Australia travel guide

Put down your camera, throw out your Neighbours box set and let our Australia travel guide lead you on an adventure that will become as much a part of who you are as where you go next. Things to do in Australia include finding your own space and embracing flexibility whilst daring to be different as you explore a land that tugs at the heart strings and tickles the ribs just as readily as Dame Edna taking on the surf at Coolangatta.

Australia travel guide

Your typical city dwelling Australian likes nothing better than an early morning run or bracing surf to kick start them into life; well that followed by a flat white, obviously. However, move clear of Sydney and Melbourne and you'll discover the antidote to the fast-paced Aussie lifestyle with national parks, such as Kakadu and Purnululu, providing an inexhaustible supply of inspirational isolation. From aboriginal art etched over ancient rocks in the Northern Territory, to the penguins, vineyards and beach reserves of the south, no trip to Australia is complete without donning your cork hat and letting yourself and your imagination run wild.

There's an Aussie expression 'Go Bush' which means get out of the city and relax. When this can't be achieved literally, it's worth applying as a state of mind.

Sometimes 'Going Bush' is the only route to take and following a guide into the Outback or exploring many miles from tourist hotspots, will help you to unearth the real Australia as well as a state of mind that many will never hope to achieve.

WHAT WE RATE & WHAT WE DON’T

Underrated

Great Ocean Road

Take off from Melbourne to Adelaide and you'll discover one of the best road trips in Australia as well as a memorial to the soldiers who fought in WW1. From the weathered limestone formations of the Twelve Apostles to the towering trees of Great Otway National Park, the Great Ocean Road is 250km of stunning scenery with plenty of picnic spots and tiny townships to break up the journey.

The Kimberley

The Kimberley is swept by the tides of the Indian Ocean where saltwater crocs line the rugged shoreline, protecting the river mouths that snake through this infinite, dusty, red terrain. Drive along the Gibb River Road or fly out to Gumboot Bay before spending time in the Bungle Bungles or on the Fitzroy River as you learn more about Dreamtime and the importance the Kimberley holds within Australia’s Aboriginal heritage.

Kangaroo Island

Just 13km from Adelaide, Australia’s third largest island boasts 450km of wild coastline with Seal Bay Conservation Park and Flinders Chase National Park, which features the Remarkable Rocks, providing protective habitat for an abundance of indigenous animals. Fur seals, koalas, sea lions, bandicoots, kangaroos (obviously) and hundreds of birds, make guided nature walks well worth a hop off the mainland.

Northern territory

From Darwin to Uluru, the Northern Territory takes you closer to the country's true ancestry where rock art, folklore and sacred sites are brought to life under the thoughtful tutelage of an Aboriginal guide. Kakadu National Park exemplifies Australia's unadulterated natural environment with waterfall-filled gorges, hidden billabongs and the Mamukala wetlands alive with thousands of birds and semi-submerged crocs.

Rated

Sydney

This southeast coast city is much more than just Bondi Beach and the Opera House, and if you're looking to climb the Harbour Bridge, shop in the Rocks or spot fruit bats in the botanical gardens, Sydney's got the lot, and then some. Discover beachside suburbs like Manly, Tamarama and Bronte as well as Kamay Botany Bay National Park and the Blue Mountains, all inviting an alternative side to Sydney.

Great Barrier Reef

Whether you choose to experience the Great Barrier Reef by glass-bottomed boat, small ship or with snorkel, mask and fins, there really is nothing like this marine phenomenon anywhere else on earth. Giant clams, sea turtles, manta rays and a profusion of tropical fish light up an incredible underwater world ripe with colourful coral gardens and ribbon reefs. Trips to Lizard Island allowing for time on golden sands from where to soak it all in.

The Outback

Entering the Outback with an Aboriginal guide opens up the relationship between indigenous Australians and the natural environment with everywhere from the Kimberley to the MacDonnell Ranges, offering unforgettable adventures. Anywhere away from urban areas and the coast constitutes “the Outback” and if you're looking for an authentic Australian experience then ‘Go Bush’, and never look back.

Tasmania

Separated from the mainland in every sense, this island has been left to her own devices with hundreds of working farms and family-run B&B's offering a bona fide bite of Tassie life. Self-drive holidays let you explore valleys coated in eucalyptus and myrtle trees where platypus, pademelons, quolls and Tasmanian devils lurk, while Cradle Mountain, the Western Wilderness and the Central Highlands wait around the bend.

Overrated

Christmas

Mid-November through to early December is schoolie season when year 12's hit the beach and let their hair down. After that it's the six-week school holidays when families also hit the beach and enjoy popular public areas much more than throughout the rest of the year. Don't expect to find uncrowded beaches at Christmas, especially on the Gold Coast. And sand in turkey dinner – really?!

Ramsey Street

If in Melbourne you might be tempted to check in on the good folk of Ramsey Street by taking the Neighbours tour. However, it's just a lengthy round-trip with a chatty tour guide followed by selfies by the road sign. Melbourne's awash with architectural heritage and green areas like Albert Park and Carlton Gardens, and places to promenade around the Docklands. Don't waste your time in Ramsey Street; make the most of the real Melbourne.

Gold Coast

Coming to Australia in search of sun, sea and sand is one thing but if you're looking for a break from beaches, bronzed bods and similar scenery then do yourself a favour and opt out of the Gold Coast. If you're really looking to fall for Queensland's coastline then head north to the Whitsundays, to Whitehaven beach, and the Great Barrier Reef and you'll soon find a world away from gap year students, surfers and schoolies.

FOOD, SHOPPING & PEOPLE

Eating & Drinking

Native restaurants, such as Charcoal Lane in Fitzroy, Brambuck National Park Café in Grampians National Park and Ochre Restaurant in Cairns, all serve bush food using traditional ingredients.

People & language

It is thought that there were over 250 languages spoken by Aboriginals when Europeans first arrived with anything up to 5,000 speakers per language. Today fewer than 50 native languages survive with just 12 having an estimated 100 speakers each. As speakers of these languages pass away so the songs, stories and oral records of the cultural history will die with them.

Although many Aboriginal people speak English, don’t just expect it, especially as a first language. Also, be aware that some Aborigines prefer not to hold eye contact when speaking and softer handshakes are preferred to knuckle busters. Finally, silence is common during conversations so respect a quiet pause before blathering on regardless.

Gifts & Shopping

Aboriginal Art Galleries is a collaborative of family-run galleries in Sydney featuring Aboriginal works of art purchased directly from the artist or from government run community centres.

Spirit Gallery in Sydney is the best place to get your authentic didgeridoos as well as more examples of original Aboriginal art. If you're looking for a browse, the Rocks weekend market stalls offer everything from handmade jewellery and handicrafts to Australian bean to bar chocolate.

Across the country Aboriginal cultural centres, such as Narana in Geelong and Tjapukai in Cairns, have authentic locally-made souvenirs as well as educational tours, workshops and productions.

Your Aussie 'mate' was much more than just a friend. Mateship was a term of shared experience, to be used in times of adversity such as digging in extreme conditions or fighting in WW1.

How much does it cost?

A schooner (2/3 pint) beer in a pub: £5

Mid-range meal for two with wine: £60

Pie & peas at Harry’s Cafe de Wheels (Sydney): £3.50

Adult entrance to Melbourne Museum: £8.50

A brief history of Australia

Despite European claims to the contrary, Australia wasn’t first discovered by the Dutch at the beginning of the 16th century or the Portuguese, half a decade earlier, and definitely not by the Brit’s Captain James Cook on the HMS Endeavour in 1770. It’s highly likely that New Holland or the Great Southern Land or Australia, was inhabited some 70,000 years previous with low sea levels perhaps providing an initial crossing point from Indonesia to Northern Australia by way of the now sea-covered Timor Trough.Read more

Although the earliest human remains found in New South Wales date back to 40,000BC, scientists are confident humans existed in Australia some 30,000 years before that with Indonesians the most likely candidates to have settled along the coast. Sea faring Malay were known to make the seasonal crossing to northern Australia in search of sea slugs to sell to Chinese traders but aside from these early forays into what was considered pretty inhospitable and worthless territory, no one had the wherewithal to inhabit the land Down Under other than the Aboriginal people.

Aboriginals in Australia worked with the land to learn from it and to become part of it creating a healthy and sustainable balance between humans, animals, land and sky. The symbiotic relationship between Aboriginal people and the land was invisible to the first European explorers which led to Australia being termed terra nullius (empty land) which would in turn import English laws to the land as it was deemed as not having been settled. Astonishingly, these laws remained unchallenged until the early 1990s where they would be overturned through a combination of archaeological finds, encrypted artwork, oral storytelling and European settler records, giving Australian Aboriginals rights and interests to their land under the Native title.

Back in the 1770’s, James Cook was mapping Australia’s east coast before returning to Blighty with news of ‘noble savages’ interesting wildlife and very little else of interest to the powers that be in London. Undaunted by the lack of interest, Cook named the newly charted region New South Wales and Botany Bay in NSW would be decreed the ideal spot for a penal colony.

It was the spring of 1787 when the first fleet of eleven ships set sail for Botany Bay from London with a human cargo of 730 convicts, around a quarter of whom were women. They wouldn’t land until early 1788 when Captain Arthur Phillip’s convict colonisers docked in Sydney Cove. Wild weather and Aboriginal hostility led to the first two years in Sydney being disastrous for the colonists with little or no chance of growing anything in the rock hard soil. Even the trees were way too tough to cut and pretty much buckled axes on first swing. Around a third of the colonists were resettled 1,500km up the coast on Norfolk Island in an attempt to find more forgiving land although this didn't stop another fleet of convicts being shipped out, many of whom would die before ever seeing land again.

Flogging and incarceration were regular for any convicts not pulling their weight and the New South Wales Corps, the Navy regiment who'd accompanied the first shipment, exercised a considerable amount of power over the, mainly Irish, colonists. The first free settlers arrived in 1793. They were farmers wishing to make a new life for themselves, with settlements to the west of Sydney, known as Liberty Plains, one of the first farmsteads to be issued to non-convicts. Conditions were extremely harsh for the convicts as they laboured here in unbearable conditions as road gangs, land workers and general builders. Slowly but surely things began to grow thanks, in part, to a former Cornish farmer, James Ruse, who had originally been given a seven year sentence for breaking and entering.

As Ruse had been a farmer back in England he pleaded with Arthur Phillip, the NSW governor, to be given a chance to work the land and in he was allowed to experiment with growing corn. Ruse's attempts were to prove successful and although he hadn't produced enough corn to feed the entire Sydney Cove penal colony he'd done enough to provide seed for the subsequent growing season. Following the completion of his seven year sentence, Ruse became the colony's first official landowner.

During this time Phillip aimed to maintain relatively good relations with the indigenous people living in and around Sydney Cove although he could do little to prevent the spread of smallpox brought over by the settlers, which would all but decimate the local Aboriginal community. Despite his desire to work alongside Aboriginal communities, land rights were not something that could be resolved overnight. The officers of the NSW Corps thought that they should be entitled to land with the likes of Lieutenant John Macarthur, who arrived with the second fleet in 1790, quitting his army post and pursuing a life of sheep farming. With the wool industry, corn production and an illegal rum trade well established in New South Wales, convicts and penal officers began taking matters into their own hands in the, by now, anarchic New South Wales' colony. It wouldn't be until 1810 and the appointment of governor Lachlan Macquarie, that a semblance of order began to take shape with former convicts being granted more rights and positions of power. Macquarie's reforms and leadership led him to be dubbed ‘The Father of Australia' and conditions improved so much that by 1819 NSW was one of the most important destinations for immigrants voluntarily coming over from Britain.

The name 'Australia' was first coined by explorer Mathew Flinders who circumnavigated the mainland in 1803 and was inspired to use the name stemming from the Latin word for southern - australis.

Although Macquarie's integration of landowners and former convicts was viewed, by some, as a success, his successor, Thomas Brisbane viewed it otherwise. After New South Wales was granted British colonial status in 1823, Brisbane would go about moving former convicts as far away from the 'free land owners' as possible with Western Australia, Queensland and Tasmania all deemed worthy as new British settlements. During this time, Aboriginals were treated as little more than an intrusion, with Tasmania in 1830 being cleared of Aboriginal people as they were rounded up and placed in hastily assembled reserves. Similar actions were commonplace across Australia with waterhole poisoning and “food gifts” laced with arsenic both methods used by some settlers in order to combat the threat of sheep stealing or land disputes. Due to Aboriginal people in Australia having no one clear identity it was relatively straightforward for the British settlers to exploit the lack of unification with Aboriginals rounded up and placed into reserves well away from their rightful and traditional lands. Worse news was to follow as gold was struck in 1851, resulting in a flood of British, American and Chinese prospectors staking their claim to land. With every boom there's a bust, however, and mass unemployment led to a recession resulted in the 1901 Immigration Act. This was also termed the White Australia Policy, and it restricted non-Europeans moving to Australia. 1901 was also the year Australia was placed within the Commonwealth with a governor general who represent the best interests of Britain. Aboriginal voices were all but nullified and the White Australia Policy didn't even recognise them within the national consensus until the late 1960s.

However, things were beginning to change.

The Aboriginal Lands Trust Act in 1966 was created to offer native Australians in South Australia a lease on their own land. Western Australia followed suit in 1972 and the Northern Territory in 1976. Under the Australian Labor Party in the 1980s Aboriginal rights began to advance, slightly, but it would be Aboriginal campaigners, such as Eddie Mabo, who would fight to really make themselves heard and result in the landmark overturning of the legal ruling regarding terra nullius. Mabo fought to legally inherit land on Murray Island and in so doing inspired the Native Title Act in 1993. This formally recognised the legal rights of traditional land owners, co-existing with farming leases and other land interests. Up until the present day, Native Titles are applied for and fought for in the courts with buzzwords like 'mutual obligation' and 'shared responsibility' leading to the first SRA (Shared Responsibility Agreement) in 2004. These sorts of agreements require certain changes in Aboriginal behaviour, often regarding healthcare, in return for financial aid for much needed community resources. Although legally the whole of Australia has now been recognised as rightfully belonging to the Aboriginal people, with apologies being issued by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in 2008, it does little to defer from the fact that the occupation of Australia resulted in the death, displacement and dishonour of the original land owners. The horrors of the 'Little Children are Sacred' report, released in 2007, and the deaths of Aboriginal activists in custody add to the European settler legacy that should be at least talked about when visiting Australia as a responsible traveller. Visiting sacred sites and reading up on Aboriginal history will give you a much deeper understanding of the history of Australia alongside the European version.